How do you like your Hot Tea.

[Ben Madison]

There are ways I like my Hot Tea, but here is the only brand that I normally drink:

Twining’s of London Earl Gray.



There are two ways I like my Tea.
Brewed with four cubes or lumps of Sugar.
Brewed and sweetened over Ice



I absolutely can’t stand to have cream or milk in my Twinning's tea its nasty. If am having post nasal drip I go for the chamomile tea, which I am trying with honey.

I also found to get a stronger brew I go for the medium dispensing button on the instant coffee thing that takes those coffee pods.



And just a side note, shortbreads and tea are a perfect match.

[KC9UDX]

Green and unadulterated. Nothing but hot water and tea leaves.

It's very hard to find one that is satisfactory in this hemisphere. The best ones I've found here taste like the cheap stuff in China.

[toodles]

I accidentally tore open a bag of Twinings Earl Grey when opening the packet--inside was "tea dust". I quit buying Twinings at that point. So I bought some real whole-leaf tea. Earl Grey is nice, and I also like a good strong Assam, whole leaf.

I get the good stuff here: http://www.uptontea.com/

[Ben Madison]

Green and unadulterated. Nothing but hot water and tea leaves.

It's very hard to find one that is satisfactory in this hemisphere. The best ones I've found here taste like the cheap stuff in China.

I have thing for brewing loose tea with. Though my preference is tea bags i still will use loose tea every once in while. I will not use Lipton only if i am brewing a large pitcher for dinner, i normally drink the instant kind though with lemon flavoring.

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I accidentally tore open a bag of Twinings Earl Grey when opening the packet--inside was "tea dust". I quit buying Twinings at that point. So I bought some real whole-leaf tea. Earl Grey is nice, and I also like a good strong Assam, whole leaf.

I get the good stuff here: http://www.uptontea.com/

Sorry about your experience with the tea.

[Logan]

I accidentally tore open a bag of Twinings Earl Grey when opening the packet--inside was "tea dust". I quit buying Twinings at that point. So I bought some real whole-leaf tea. Earl Grey is nice, and I also like a good strong Assam, whole leaf.

I get the good stuff here: http://www.uptontea.com/

i also buy tea from upton tea imports and highly recommend them. their periodical catalogue is awesome (their article on thomas lipton's yachting was a favorite), and have no complaints in the years i've bought from them.

my favorite tea is formosa jade imperial oolong

served at 180 degrees fahrenheit.

No additions, and i don't mind a couple loose bits in the bottom of the cup

i'm also a big fan of the GABA oolongs from japan and darjeeling oolong. i enjoy flavored black teas in cycles...earl gray, rose, peach, chai (but make my own masala), etc. greens i enjoy too many to recount and whites are nice for a mild cup. the only teas i've dried and dislike entirely are pu-erh (tastes like poo earth) and genmaicha (toasted rice flavors weird).

i always follow the standard rules of thumb for infusion temperatures and times (the more fermented the leaves, the hotter and longer the brew) but when making iced tea, double the tea (by weight, please!) and immediately pour over ice equal to the volume of the potent brew. save your leftover tea into ice cube trays so you can enjoy iced tea without watering down your beverage!

[KC9UDX]

Bag tea usually is powdered. It works better that way.

I don't use anything special for tea leaves. Boil water, wait for it to cool a little, put leaves in cup, pour in water. I do have some fancy teacups that I brought back from China which have strainers, but I don't use the strainers.

[Logan]

Bag tea usually is powdered. It works better that way.

when the tea is powdered, quality comes into question. akin to spices or tobacco products.

[toodles]

when the tea is powdered, quality comes into question. akin to spices or tobacco products.

Yup! Like they swept the factory floor and put that in the bags.

[KC9UDX]

Unless you grow your own, you never really know what you get.

[Logan]

Unless you grow your own, you never really know what you get.

maybe true on a philosophical level. but on a practical level, loose leaf tea drinkers can distinguish quality of the leaves by their size, shape, color, density, aroma, etc. these are all tangible qualities that are only veritable when the leaf is in its unshredded form. also, tea has a very stringent grading scale and the classifications are standardized. it's characteristic of cultured tea drinkers to know what to shop for.

when i offer tea to a guest who has no persuasion to any particular type, i'll show them a few different varieties of leaves and they'll easily find a favorite. like the eye doctor asking you "A or B?" a few times. some of the finer tea leaves are so beautiful i'm tempted to display them rather than use them.

[KC9UDX]

I usually go by smell.

[einstein magoo]

I like mine in a small, dainty little cup with my little finger extended. Pisses off the missus.